After the Lantern Festival, everyone will gradually return to work.

Early in the morning, Shen Mingzhi arrived at Baoli's factory area, carrying with her a chill.

The workers were chiseling icicles from the eaves, and they all greeted her warmly when she arrived.

"Happy New Year, Director Shen!"

"Thank you for your hard work." Shen Mingzhi nodded with a smile, her breath dissipating in the cold air.

The door to Director Sun's office was ajar. She pushed it open and went in, finding Director Sun frowning as he spoke into the phone.

"...Yes, I understand...Okay, goodbye."

After hanging up the phone, Factory Director Sun turned to Shen Mingzhi with a grave expression. "That Jiang Huanyu didn't rest during the New Year."

Shen Mingzhi took off her cotton gloves, rubbed her hands together, and asked calmly, "What's he up to now?"

"He went abroad on the third day of the Lunar New Year. His father owns a state-owned factory and has connections. He flew there directly. He said he brought back a German technical team on the seventh day and ordered two new production lines, with a total investment of nearly two million." Factory Director Sun handed over a document. "This is a sample analysis of their new product."

Shen Mingzhi glanced at it and asked nonchalantly, "It's just a different packaging design; the formula is still the same. What's there to worry about?"

“But their production efficiency will triple, and their costs will drop by 20%,” Factory Manager Sun said worriedly. “The Jiang family is determined to wage a price war against us this time.”

Shen Mingzhi did not answer immediately.

With limited consumer spending power, engaging in price wars is undoubtedly the best approach.

Jiang Huanyu is at least somewhat intelligent.

Knowing they couldn't compete with their R&D, they resorted to price wars.

A real price reduction is better than anything else.

“We don’t have two million to invest… but we still have to keep up with the price war, otherwise we’ll be eaten up completely.” Shen Mingzhi put down the documents, her brow furrowed in worry.

Actually, their current products are already at their lowest price.

At that time, she thought that Jiang Huanyu was arrogant and liked to copy her methods, so he would always follow her... She would have to make a few more mistakes and suffer a few losses before he would change.

Unexpectedly, he couldn't wait during the New Year period.

She also underestimated Jiang Huanyu.

I thought he was from this era and couldn't possibly have any breakthroughs in his thinking, but I didn't expect him to find a way to deal with them so quickly.

"If we keep up, the costs are there, are we going to compete at a loss? Our Baoli products have a certain level of brand recognition now, and consumers only recognize the few types of products we produced last year. We can't possibly use products with such high costs to compete," Factory Director Sun asked worriedly.

Shen Mingzhi frowned in thought, but did not answer.

“Even if we have new, low-priced products, our production lines can’t keep up, so we still can’t beat them,” Factory Director Sun continued.

"Including Xia Lei, he, like our factory, has two department stores supporting him." Shen Mingzhi muttered to herself, then looked up at Factory Director Sun and said, "The real business battle has only just begun this year. I haven't figured out how to deal with it yet, so let's leave it at that for now. Let's get production going; they won't be that quick."

It takes time for the production line to be transported back, and it also needs to be installed, debugged, and guided by professional technicians... During this period, she always manages to find a solution.

"Right now, there are two department stores supporting us. Who knows what will happen after Jiang Huanyu succeeds?" Director Sun had seen the true colors of these department stores.

When there's money to be made, they treat you like a saint; when there's no money to be made, they sweep all your products out the door.

“They won’t escape either. I signed a three-year container agreement with them over the Chinese New Year. The best locations must be our Baoli’s. The term is three years. If they breach the contract, the compensation will be enough for our factory workers’ wages for a year. Let’s see if they dare to break the contract.”

Shen Mingzhi's only consolation now is that she anticipated things might change this year, so she coaxed Manager Su and Manager Gao into signing a three-year agreement.

No matter what happens to PolyGram in these three years, they will have to stay with them.

She didn't just give away her sales plans for nothing.

Factory Director Sun paused for a moment, then said, "Then there's no need to worry about that. I'll go arrange the orders now."

...

Shen Mingzhi had just arrived at Manager Su's department store when she ran into Jiang Huanyu, who was also there.

Jiang Huanyu was observing the arrangement of the containers when he heard the noise. He turned around, dressed in a suit and tie, with a cold expression.

"Director Shen, Happy New Year." He nodded slightly, his tone less dismissive than before.

Shen Mingzhi walked straight to his side, staring at the shipping container, and said, "President Jiang doesn't even take a break during the Spring Festival; he's truly dedicated."

Jiang Huanyu turned to look at her. "I know very well that we can't keep up with you in R&D, and our sales acumen isn't as good as yours, but... price is a real thing. Whoever offers the lowest prices and the largest volumes will dominate the market, don't you agree?"

Shen Mingzhi nodded and said calmly, "Indeed, price wars are the easiest to wage. You don't need to think; just put cheap goods on the shelves, and people will choose them because of the low price. But how dare you offer face cream at such a low price?"

“Low price is only one aspect.” Jiang Huanyu couldn’t help but show a hint of pride again. “We’ve secured the distribution rights for Shiseido from Japan, and we’ll be opening a counter in Beijing in the second half of the year.”

Shen Mingzhi finally understood: high-end products rely on foreign countries, while low-end products rely on domestic ones.

That's true. There are so many people in China now, and everyone wants to make money. Factories are mostly filled with cheap labor. They use low prices as a gimmick so that people will cooperate with them.

Shen Mingzhi looked at him for a while before replying, "Congratulations. However, there are many examples of foreign brands failing to adapt to the Chinese market, so Mr. Jiang shouldn't be too optimistic."

“Furthermore,” Jiang Huanyu continued, “I’ve already contacted the TV station, and advertising will begin next month. Director Shen should know that in terms of publicity, your Poly Plaza is no match for me.”

Shen Mingzhi nodded in agreement, "That's right. You're saying all this just to show off to me?"

Jiang Huanyu did indeed have this intention; he unconsciously wanted to take Shen Mingzhi seriously and make her panic.

However, she remained composed throughout.

The more Jiang Huanyu looked at her, the harder it was for him to suppress the flutter in his heart.

He had never encountered such a person since he started doing business.

Without any supportive background, relying entirely on his own hard work, he still manages to remain so calm and composed.

Such an opponent... made his very soul tremble, and he wanted to fight her again and again.

He suppressed the distracting thoughts in his mind and narrowed his eyes. "Aren't you worried?"

"I'm looking forward to seeing President Jiang show off his skills." Shen Mingzhi was about to leave when she added, "By the way, when will your new production line arrive?"

“Late April.” Jiang Huanyu answered instinctively, then frowned. “Why are you asking this?”

"We'll be able to face off at the end of April, and I'm really looking forward to it," Shen Mingzhi said with a smile.

The more volatile the market, the better, and so does the economy.

It's cruel to those factories that don't strive for improvement... but the business world is like a battlefield.

Jiang Huanyu and she, one of them will eventually be the pioneer who disrupts the market.